This Sunday, the Huronia Symphony under conductor Oliver Balaburski winds up its 50th season with a tribute to Canada, as well as pieces by two of the acknowledged masters of classic music.
The concert begins with The Ringing Earth, a work by Canadian composer Alexina Louie, which sets much of the tone for the season closer.
Orchestra spokesperson Debbie Dinsmore, member of the horn section says, “It is always fun to play modern Canadian music, and since this piece played an important role in the opening ceremonies of Expo ’86, it is great to play it during Canada’s 150th.
“The Ringing Earth is exciting to play with its joyful opening fanfare that features the brass and a very large percussion section - it feels like a celebration! Alexina Louie is a prolific Canadian composer whose music is very approachable with great melodies, exciting rhythms, and a large orchestra with lots of added instruments for orchestral colour like the alto flute, contra bassoon, English horn, and of course all of the interesting percussion instruments like gongs, cymbals played with a bow, chimes, etc.
HSO concertmaster David McFadden then performs the Violin Concerto in E Minor by Felix Mendelssohn, which Dinsmore also endorses. “It is one of the most well-known and most performed violin concertos and it really shows off what the violinist can do.”
The concert concludes with Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony, which Dinsmore refers to as “an amazing and innovative work.
“The brass (is) featured a lot with many fanfares and the strings have an entire movement of plucking the string instead of using the bow. The woodwinds have many beautiful solo melodies and also join the strings with some brilliant technical passages. Anyone in the audience who loves The Nutcracker will adore this symphony.”
The final concert of the season will constitute a kind of homecoming for HSO musicians, past and present.
“Many people from orchestra’s history are joining the audience for this concert and there are musicians from the past returning to play this concert with us - which makes the concert very special for everyone. There will also be displays of photos and memorabilia from the Huronia Symphony and the Huronia Symphony Youth programs for people to look at during the intermission and reception following the concert.”
The HSO 50th anniversary concert gets underway at 3:30 p.m., Sunday, May 14, at Collier Street United Church. For more information, click www.huroniasymphony.ca.
